Product Details

• Actors: Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron, James Frain, Dana Stubblefield
• Directors: John Frankenheimer
• Writers: Ehren Kruger
• Producers: Andrew Rona, Bob Weinstein, Cary Granat, Casey Grant, Chris Moore
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Dimension
• DVD Release Date: March 27, 2001
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000059HBA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,639 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #12 in

  Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Action Directors > John Frankenheimer

• For more information about "Reindeer Games (Director's Cut)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

To fully enjoy Reindeer Games, it must be approached properly: your disbelief must be checked at the door, as this John Frankenheimer film needs be taken with a liberal dose of pure faith in the magic of movie plotting.

Christmas approaches and all Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) can think about is the hot chocolate and pecan pie beckoning when he gets out of prison in a couple of days. But standing between him and his sated stomach is Ashley (Charlize Theron), an irresistible woman waiting for him upon his release. Without giving away any of the myriad twists of this thriller, Rudy falls for Ashley, thus becoming forcibly embroiled in a casino-robbery scheme helmed by Ashley's brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise).

Frankenheimer, who excels at devious plot machinations, à la The Manchurian Candidate, goes far enough here to stretch the patience of even his most loyal fans. The script relies a little heavily on bad Christmas jokes, and the film is overwhelmed with close-ups. The convoluted turns become outrageous to the point of ludicrous; yet it's all done in the spirit of fun, and once you get past the implausibility, Frankenheimer takes you on a rousing ride. While Affleck doesn't seem quite hardened enough to be a convicted car thief, he does a superb job with a thin script, and Sinise is as sinister as ever. Theron provides more decoration than acting due to the lightweight plot, but my, what lovely decoration she is. For a thought-provoking evening, stick with the earlier Frankenheimer films; for an adrenaline-pumping evening, Reindeer Games has all the violence, chases, and sex scenes for a night of entertaining diversion. --Jenny Brown

Product Description

Sizzling hot Ben Affleck (PEARL HARBOR) and Charlize Theron (THE CIDER HOUES RULES) team up with Gary Sinise (MISSION TO MARS) in this action-packed story of high-stakes crime and deception. Upon release from a stint in prison, Rudy (Affleck) impulsively decides to pose as his old cell mate Nick in order to make time with Nick's beautiful pen pal, Ashley (Theron). But Rudy's ruse blows up when he realizes that Ashely was double-crossing Nick ... and he's inescapably part of an armed robbery plot being hatched by her dangerously evil brother (Sinise)! Also featuring Clarence Williams III (LIFE), Danny Trejo (CON AIR), and Dennis Farina (GET SHORTY) -- don't miss this intensely entertaining, nonstop movie thrill ride!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REINDEER GAMES Shoots Down Other Action Movies!, February 26, 2000

By	Tom Patrick (kentucky, usa) - See all my reviews

REINDEER GAMES is not your ordinary action thriller-that's why I love it! The story may seem simple: an ex-convict is released from prison and is forced to help a gang of gun runners rob a casino on Christmas Eve, but there are plenty of double-crosses and plot twists in this movie to make your head spin. Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, and Charlize Theron are excellent in the roles they have been cast to play. I have to say the best thing about this movie is the twist ending that really shocked me. This movie lives up to it's tagline: Who can you trust?

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars iT'S SO BAD, IT'S FUNNY..., February 12, 2001

By	Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Reindeer Games (DVD)

One thing is to suspend belief, another is to suspend one's intelligence, which is what this movie requires. This movie is so bad, it is actually funny, at times. Replete with a bad script and bad acting, it revolves around a convoluted plot that has so many twists and turns, as to simply not be believable. The casting is bad, as well. Ben Affleck as a hardened convict? Come on...give me a break! He is simply not a good enough actor to play against type, charming though he be.

Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck), a professional car thief who has just spent six years in the can, is looking forward to being released and returning to his family for Xmas. His cell mate of six years, Nick, is likewise looking forward to his own simultaneous release, so that he can join his beautiful girl friend and pen pal, Ashley (Charlize Theron), about whom he has talked to Rudy incessantly for years and to whom he has read all her letters. Unfortunately, two days before Nick's and Rudy's release, Nick is stabbed, ostensibly to death.

When Rudy leaves prison, he sees the beautiful Ashley waiting for Nick. Having heard all about her for years and feeling like he knows her, Rudy assumes Nick's identity, and hooks up with her. Unbeknownst to Rudy, Ashley has an evil brother (Gary Sinise). When Rudy meets him, somewhat unceromoniously, he forces Rudy to become part of a casino robbery, because he believe Rudy to be Nick and is counting on Nick's prior knowledge of the casino to help them plot the robbery. When Rudy confesses to not being Nick, Sinise does not believe him, and Rudy is forced to use his wits to stay alive.

However, the twists and turns continue. If you think the brother is evil, the viewer finds out that he has nothing on his sister, Ashley. Unfortunately, it gets so unbelievable, as to be ludicrous, and the movie spirals out of control. Like I said, it's so bad, it's funny. Rent it, Don't buy it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One extremely thrilling and suspenseful ride, August 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Reindeer Games (DVD)

I didn't think Reindeer Games was anywhere near as mediocre as the critics thought it was. As a matter of fact, I loved the film, and it's certainly much better than that other much overrated plot twisting thriller Wild Things (a mostly suspenseless which might hold some sort of cinematic record for most plot twists ever).

The film is about a car thief named Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck). His best friend, Nick, who has a pen pal named he plans on meeting after he's released-which is also the same day Rudy will be let out-is killed during a food fight. Rudy, in a very tough decision, decides to pretend he's Nick and meets the beautiful Ashley, Nick's pen pal. At first, everything seems to be going right for him for the first time, until Ashley's brother Gabriel arrives and demands Rudy, whom he thinks is Nick, to help him and his band of cronies rob a casino since Nick used to work as a security guard there. Now, Rudy has to try to pretend he's Nick and convince Gabriel he knows how to get in the casino.

Reindeer Games is an exhilarating thriller, with plenty of action and humor. There are some exciting moments and the film is very suspenseful. Affleck's initial guise as Nick is quite funny, along with the moments thoughout the film that he has to convince Sinise he's who he says he is, be that Rudy Duncan or Nick Cassidy.

The film features Ben Affleck in a great performance as the hero who we all root for. Gary Sinise chews the scenery as the villain and makes up for the travesty that was Snake Eyes though he still has to do another work to atone for Mission to Mars (he should have also had the lieutenant Dan look in Mission, at least that would have solidified that film's camp value, but no, the Lt. Dan look had to go to Don Cheadle). Charlize Theron is fairly good as the love interest for Affleck.

This is one of those films that really keeps you guessing, with plot twists that are surprising, especially a big twist at the end that nobody seemed to have ever been able to have guessed correctly. You can never really tell what's going to happen next, or who's going to come out on top in the end. Will Affleck get out of the whole situation alive? Can he keep pretending he's somebody he's not? And what is the twist in the finale? Watch the film and find out.